Day 4

There are no holidays from Jesus!:)  One of the reasons I have had an on-going string of 8500+ hours with the King is because I haven’t taken a holiday from Him!  I know He’s waiting to with me—even on holidays!  And perhaps on holidays, I’m even needier of His counsel and indwelling.  So, whether it has been a family vacation, a weekend trip, or a very busy holiday…I still plan—one day in advance—for my appointment with God where we debrief, I can get the “cup clean”, and intercede for those who need prayer..  I encourage you to do the same…

Prayer: Time alone with God

Dallas Willard, a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California and the author of Hearing God gives today’s Christian a true picture of the God who waits. He writes, “Companionship with Jesus is the form that Christian spirituality, as practiced through the ages, takes. Spiritual people are not those who engage in certain spiritual practices; they are those who draw their life from a conversational relationship with God.”

Purity: Never on Vacation

If you’ve never read Sin and Temptation by John Owen, you would really be encouraged, amazed and strengthened by his insights on the heart of every man and woman…how vulnerable we are to stray from God.  His point—get over yourself (and any aversion to discipline) because a Christian must remain alert to the attempts of the devil and their own weaknesses—all their lives...or they’ll become diminished and disqualified.  He repeats (often) that sin chases a Christian—all his or her life!  It doesn’t stop (hence, the moral and public failures of so many leaders.  No coincidence he says.  It’s a lifestyle of alertness.)  The seventeenth century book is brilliant…and is like a secret manual that just waits for the reader. 

Purpose: Sent out by the King
Today’s reading from My Utmost for His Highest, he begins with…“The missionary is one in whom the Holy Spirit has wrought this realization—you are not your own.”  He continues, “To say, ‘I am not my own’ is to have reached a point in spiritual nobility.”  For most of us…this might be a great statement to put in the front of your prayer journal or Bible and repeat daily, if not more often!  It’s just a reminder—bringing us back to a point of serving the living, loving God.  His promptings become much clearer when we have “settled” the issue…of WHOSE I am.  Most brilliant, God sends us out WITH His Holy Spirit.  We are never alone…you are not alone.  He gives us words and thoughts and impressions…we just need to be alert, then follow His lead.